ITC has decided to re-purpose its perfume manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh to make Savlon hand sanitisers, as part of its efforts to meet the surge in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The FMCG major expects the factory, commissioned last November, to enable it to make an additional 1.25 lakh litres of hand sanitisers.

ITC also said it has redoubled its efforts to ensure enhanced supply and availability of the Savlon range of products in the market.

Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products, ITC Ltd, said: “Addressing a larger national requirement during the coronavirus pandemic, ITC has re-purposed its recently commissioned perfume manufacturing facility in Manpura, Himachal Pradesh to manufacture Savlon hand sanitisers. This initiative reinforces our efforts to enable enhanced production and supply of Savlon range of hygiene products in the market, which is the need of the hour to help fight the virus and contain its spread.”

“In line with the government order and in public interest, ITC has also reduced the price of Savlon sanitisers and is working overnight to reach the new stocks with the revised prices to the market. ITC has also reinforced its efforts to enhance awareness about the importance of hand hygiene through campaigns across digital, print and other communication platforms,” the company stated.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry has put hand sanitisers under the Essential Commodities Act and has also fixed the prices of certain hygiene products. It has urged hand sanitiser makers to enhance production. In addition, States have been swiftly giving permissions to distilleries and deodorant makers to begin making hand sanitisers in bulk.

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